Ruins of Buddhistic Temples in Prågå Valley—Tyandis Båråbudur, Mendut and PawonGroneman, I. (Isaac)
Religion
Ruins of Buddhistic Temples in Prågå Valley—Tyandis Båråbudur, Mendut and Pawon
Groneman, I. (Isaac)
Buddhist temples; Temples -- Indonesia -- Java
[64]Till 1896 I also thought that these small Buddha images, we see in
the crown, characterised the wearers as _Bodhisattvas_, that is, the
Bodhisattvas of the _Dhyâni-Buddhas_ whose small images were hewn in
the crowns. The king of _Siam_ denied this. Because of his being a
buddhistic prince himself he also wore such small images in his
crown. Moreover, I never saw another image in these crowns, except
the one with the _two_ hands in his lap, which is to signify the
_mudrâ dhyâna_ or meditation, a posture the Mahâyânists gave to the
_fourth_ Dhyâni-Buddha, Amitâbha, the Redeemer of _this_ world. If
now these small images were to characterise _Dhyâni-Bodhisattvas_,
why, another Bodhisattva but Padmapâni the fourth, would have been
never hewn.
Should they refer to buddhistic _princes_ it then may be easily
imagined that they never referred to another Buddha but the one of
_this their_ world. On undeniable images these small ones therefore
only point to the buddhistic character the northern church
adjudicated to these deities.
[65]The crescent of the moon _Leemans_ ascribes to this sculpture we
don’t see anywhere, but is to be perceived on the preceding one,
105.
[66]On the _fourteenth_ sculpture on the front-wall of this gallery the
sun and moon have been sculptured with _seven_ stars (planets?).
[67]“Oudheidkundige aanteekeningen” IV, p. 55-58.
[68]“Oudheidkundige Aanteekeningen” I and II.
[69]Dr. _Vogel_ doesn’t come.
But I also do expect very much from the younger sanskritic scholar,
Dr. N. J. Krom, the appointed president of the “_Oudheidkundige
Kommissie_” whose acquaintance I’ve made to my great satisfaction.
_Later note_, October 3^th 1910.
[70]I don’t know how it must have been possible for von Saher to see
_linggas_ and _yonis_ in these buddhistic produce of art. Buddhism
doesn’t know any _lingga_- or _yoni_-worship. See his “_Versierende
kunsten in Ned: Oost-Indië_”, p. 15, 18, 21 and 64.
[71]When the sky is not overclouded we see from this point 9 volcanoes
with the exception of the _Sindårå_ and _Diyèng_ which hid
themselves behind the _Sumbing_-giant. This old volcano still rises
3336 Metres above sea-level, the _Mĕrbabu_ and _Sindårå_ (or
_Sĕndårå_) reach a height of 3145 Metres, the _Mĕrapi_ 2875 Metres,
the far, not always visible _Slamĕt_ 3472 Metres; the adjacent
neptunian _Mĕnoreh_ (or _Minoreh_) doesn’t reach more than 1000
Metres.
Never shall I forget the first night I partly spent on this full
moon lit spot, a death past under, and over me the immortal light.
This happened more than 37 years ago.
[72]The last mentioned estimation of name I got from a former _Magĕlang_
regent, now called _haji_ or _kaji Danu ning Rat_. The Javanese
generally wrote and write _buddå_, in Javanese characters: {Javanese
script}
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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